The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to medical imaging systems, and more particularly to calibration of radiation detection systems.
In nuclear medicine (NM) imaging, such as single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) or positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, radiopharmaceuticals are administered internally to a patient. Detectors (e.g., gamma cameras), typically installed on a gantry, capture the radiation emitted by the radiopharmaceuticals and this information is used, by a computer, to form images. The NM images primarily show physiological function of, for example, the patient or a portion of the patient being imaged.
An NM imaging system may be configured as a multi-head imaging system having a number of individual detectors distributed about the gantry. Each detector may pivot or sweep to provide a range over which the detector may acquire information that is larger than a stationary field of view of the detector. However, as a detector sweeps through a range, the detector may acquire imaging information that is not of interest, or not as useful as information from a region of interest that is covered by only a portion of a range. The time spent by the detector collecting information that is not of interest may result in an inefficient acquisition time.